


K Cafe

by EarlKagayamii



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Cafe AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2014-11-27
Packaged: 2018-02-27 05:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2680106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarlKagayamii/pseuds/EarlKagayamii
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another cafe AU where Levi and Eren find each other again. Because we can never have enough of those.</p>
            </blockquote>





	K Cafe

Chapter 1

Jean looked up at the brunette in front of him. “You’re late.”

“I know I’m sorry. The professor kept going on forever.”

“This is what I get for pairing up with someone from the other class for the project. I knew I should have stuck with Armin.” Jean grumbled, he wasn’t actually that bothered. He just couldn’t help trying to piss Eren off, that certainly hadn’t changed in this life.

“Whatever, I’m getting a drink first.” Eren wasn’t falling for this shit again. Having grown up with Armin, Mikasa and Jean in this life, he had learnt how to handle Jean’s idiocy. He headed towards the counter where a queue was beginning to form. It was that odd time in the afternoon where people seemed to want coffee for no reason.

Sometimes it was pretty surreal how different life was now as compared to back then when they were facing the titans, and yet human nature seemed to remain the same. Eren wondered who else had been born again into this life, so far he had met Sasha, Connie, Macro and the aforementioned three. All from the 104th trainees division. None of them had yet to meet anyone from the other divisions. Like Commander Erwin, Lance Corporal Levi, Hanji or anyone from the original Levi squad.

Was there supposed to be some odd reason behind that? Like maybe the recruits from each division were only born, well _reborn_ , during a certain time period. It seemed a little far-fetched, but given everything they’ve been through nobody could say for certain that it was impossible. Hanji or Armin could probably figure it out, but none of them knew where Hanji was and Armin had confessed that he was stumped.

Had the theory about the respective divisions being born in certain time zones been correct, they would have seen evidence of it somewhere. Given that that had not happened, Armin theorized that either there was no specific time that they had been born in, or that those who were there before them had purposely led quiet lives so as to not draw attention towards themselves. They really had no way of knowing. Still, Eren yearned to meet Levi again someday. They had promised each other to travel the world outside the wall together, to see the seas and deserts, to live a life free from the threat of titans together. Eren intended to keep his promise no matter what.

* * *

 

Levi fiddled with his phone as the student in front of him ordered. He looked eerily like Eren. Had it been a couple years ago Levi might have called out to see if it really was Eren, but Levi had learnt to stop searching for Eren in every face he saw. It would only bring him pain. Besides, in a world of 7 billion people, what were the odds of being able to find Eren? Almost impossible.

Perhaps Eren hadn’t even been born yet. That would make sense, he had yet to come across anyone from the 104th division. Erwin, Hanji and the guys from his original squad, Petra, Auruo, Gunther and Erd hadn’t seen them either. Although it was possible his former subordinates could have walked right past the cadets and not realize it, given that they hadn’t actually met anyone from the 104th division except for Eren.

But it still ate at him that he couldn’t keep his promise to Eren. The promise that they so desperately made the night Levi was ordered to execute Eren. It was the worst possible end for the both of them, for Levi to end the life of his beloved, for Eren to have his life cut short by the man he looked up to the most. So they promised, they promised to find each other in their next life, to finally live a life free of titans together.

 He glanced up as the boy handed the cashier some money with a scarred hand. The scar happened to be in a shape of a bite mark, how coincidental. He placed his own order as the boy walked off.

Jean had a moment of déjà vu. He had looked up to see Eren placing his order. The short man queuing behind Eren looked extremely familiar, he just couldn’t seem to place the name or where he had seen him before.

“Did you see the guy behind you? He looked really familiar.” Jean asked Eren as he returned with his cappuccino.

“What guy?” Eren scanned the room. He had no idea which person Jean was talking about.

Jean pointed towards the door. “There, the one hailing a cab.”

“A cab…wha-” Eren froze.

Levi. The very Levi who beat him up in the courtroom. The one who took him into the survey corps. The one who he fell in love with. The one he made a promise with. The one who killed him.

That was Levi who was getting into the cab. He moved towards the door without thinking. “Lance Corporal!”

“Lance Corporal? You mean that was?” Jean muttered, beating himself up mentally. How the hell did he not recognize him!? He watched dumbly as Eren desperately chased the cab that was leaving the sidewalk. He couldn’t do anything but watch as Eren realized that Levi had slipped out of his grasp once again.

* * *

 

“Lance Corporal!”

Levi heard as the cab drove away from the café. It couldn’t be.

Eren?

It wasn’t possible. Probably his imagination. He had been thinking about Eren earlier, his mind was probably playing tricks on him. Maybe this upcoming trip would be good for him, work-related or not.

The café gained a regular customer that day. It wasn’t that Eren liked their coffee, he found it rather normal, Eren went back to the café everyday for the sole purpose of finding Levi again. At first, he hoped that by returning to the café at same time he would be able to see Levi. But that never happened, Levi never came back to that café after that day. After almost a month of religiously returning to the café, Eren was starting to doubt himself. Was it really Levi he saw? Perhaps he had wanted to meet Levi so much that he was starting to see things, Jean didn’t seem to recognize Levi then. Even after Eren had pointed out who he was, Jean seemed somewhat disbelieving.

Maybe he really needed to see a doctor, a psychologist would have a field day studying him. He didn’t even get a proper look at the guy and here he was wasting his time returning to this café just because of the miniscule chance that he could meet the Corporal again. He was going to feel like a complete idiot if he met the guy again and it turned out to be some other person rather than Levi.

On some days, Eren woke up angry and thinking that it wasn’t worth it. He barely knew the guy, outside of the military, there was nothing to link the two of them together. Not to mention, now that the both of them were living completely different lives and faced completely different obstacles, what would they have in common to hold them together except their past?

Other days he fantasized about what they would say to each other when they finally met. Living a regular life with Levi, going on dates, eating together, just the thought of being able to do those things filled him with bliss.

* * *

 

“Yeah, I got it. I let Levi know when he gets back.”

“Where did you send him this time?”

“Singapore. The management wants to open a branch there.” The tall blonde stopped at the counter and placed his order. “An Americano to go please.”

“And I’ll have a mocha, double shots!”

Good lord no. Hanji did not need _any_ caffeine. “ _Decaffeinated_ for the mocha, thanks.” Erwin cut in.

“Errrwwwwwiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnn” Hanji whined, plopping down on a nearby couch.

Right beside a certain brunette.

“Squad Leader Hanji!” Eren all but yelled. Frankly, this was the last person he had expected to see. The squad leader looked the same as ever, with the exact same ponytail and glasses.

“Eren! You’re here too huh!?” Hanji exclaimed. “How’s regular life treating you??”

“Erm, fine I guess.” A shadow passed over him and Eren looked up at the cause.

Lo and behold. A certain aggressively eyebrowed man we all know and love as Erwin Smith.

If both Erwin and Hanji were here, then Levi definitely had to be around somewhere. Eren scanned the room for any sign of the familiar black undercut, and failed to find it.

Erwin chuckled at Eren’s obvious disappointment, if his shoulders slumped any lower his arms would probably fall right off. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what Eren was looking for. Or rather, had failed to find.

“He’s not here, you know.”

“Huh, what?” Large green eyes turned to meet him. “Who’s not here, Commander?”

“Erwin’s fine, we’re not in the military anymore.” Erwin smiled. “I sent Levi on a business trip to Singapore. For about a month.”

“Oh.” That shed light on certain things. In fact, it shone a 5000 watt spotlight on a specific issue Eren had been racking his head over.

“Well, we’ll take our leave now. Let’s go, Hanji.”

“See you around Eren!”

“Uh, bye?”

Eren felt like a complete idiot. Coming back to the café everyday just to see Levi again even though the man wasn’t even in the same continent. Yet at the same time, he was ecstatic, there was certain proof that Levi was here. In this world, in this time. He wasn’t running on wild guesses anymore.

Commander Erwin– no, just Erwin now, had said that Levi was out of town for about a month. This meant that he was probably due to come back soon.

* * *

 

“Levi!! You wouldn’t believe what we found in that café you like to go to so much!” Hanji practically pounced on the man at the airport.

“What the hell shitty glasses, I barely got back and you’re going on about some crap.” Levi had just got off a 22 hour flight. He didn’t have the energy to deal with this bullshit right now. Yes, Hanji was right most of the time unfortunately, but that didn’t mean that he had to listen to the shitty glasses all the time.

“Come onnn.”

“No way. I’m heading back before this fucking jet lag kicks in.”

“Erwinnn, make him listennn”

Oh god. Shitty glasses was turning to Erwin for back up. “I’m getting out of here. See you two tomorrow.”

“You really should drop by that café first though. Never know who you might meet there.” Erwin finally spoke up.

“Are you fucking serious?” Levi glared at Erwin. “You too?”

“I’ll give you a paid leave tomorrow if you go to the café now.”

Levi certainly couldn’t turn down a free off day. Especially when all he had to do was to drop by his regular café. “Fine.”

* * *

 

Eren was in the café as usual. No doubt that going to the café everyday was improving his schoolwork. What else was there to do at the café anyway? That meant that for the past month, he had not only been religiously waiting for Levi, but also doing his homework every day. Fuck, even Armin doesn’t do his homework every day. Probably.

He had come to a point where he didn’t look up every single time the door opened. In fact, he occasionally got so engrossed in doing his work that hours would pass by before he realized it. Surprise surprise, Eren Jaeger is a fucking nerd.

Begrudgingly, Levi stepped into his usual café with Erwin and Hanji shadowing his every step. Thankfully, Erwin made Hanji stop outside the café, it would have been a complete embarrassment if they had actually followed him all the way into the café. Especially when Hanji was so hyper over god knows what. He figured he’d just get a coffee and get out. All he promised Erwin was that he would go to the café, so he kept up his end of the deal.

The first thing that caught his attention as he entered was a student frantically working on some sort of assignment at the table. There was a sort of nervous determination to the kid’s air, it reminded him of Eren. Then again, nearly everything reminded him of Eren. Don’t be an idiot. Just get the goddamned coffee and get out. Levi chided himself, if he was going to get nostalgic every single time something reminded him of Eren, he’d never get anything done.

He spotted waving out of the corner of his eye, and gazing toward that direction, Levi realized that it was just Hanji waving like a complete idiot and pointing frantically at something. Erwin just seemed bemused as usual. Levi was determined to ignore Hanji’s antics. Perhaps it was due to the amount of time that they had spent together, or Erwin was just a creepily smart bastard, but the blonde started pointing in the same direction, as if he knew that Levi was planning to ignore Hanji.

Thing was, Levi was just really predictable.

Well, he’d humor them for a little while if it meant that he could get them off his back for the rest of the day. Gazing over at the direction at which the two were pointing, Levi found himself once again looking at the student. What was so special about that student that Erwin and Hanji felt the need to force Levi to see him? As he took a detour en route to the counter in order to see the boy from the front, he could feel the satisfied stares of Hanji and Erwin drilling through his back. How troublesome.

He stopped short.  It couldn’t be. Those piercing eyes and that mop of brown hair right down to the bite shaped scars on the back of his hands. The set of his jaw as he clenched them. The way his eyebrows furrowed when he was thinking too hard. Most annoying of all, how his frantic typing vaguely resembled the way his used to sweep the floors in that old castle back then.

The younger one didn’t seem to notice Levi though. Or the figure outside the café gesturing and cheering like it was the end of the world. All his attention was focused on trying to get this fucking program to _work_ properly for god’s sake. He didn’t even look up when someone took the seat across his table, or when the said person set down another cup of coffee beside his laptop. No, Eren was too engrossed in this stupid fucking chart and if he ever had to touch another statistic after this he would lose his fucking shit. Taking a sip of his coffee, Eren decided to take a break.

Huh.

He was pretty sure he finished his coffee half an hour ago though. So where did this fresh cup of coffee come from? He looked up and practically fell out of his chair.

* * *

 

“Well, that was a bit over the top don’t you think?” commented the blonde standing outside the café window.

“Never thought I’d see something like that actually happen in reality,” the brunette replied. “Man! I wish I recorded that! That was gold!”

“Levi would probably send hit men after you if you did. You know how possessive he is, especially when it comes to Eren.” Erwin raised an eyebrow. The entire situation was very amusing. From Levi’s actions to Eren’s reactions.

“That’s what makes it fun! I’d get back at him for pushing me off the horse that time.” Hanji cackled gleefully.

“…Hanji, that was two thousand years ago.”

“And your point is?”

* * *

 

“… Hello.”

“L- La- La- LANCE CORPORAL!!??”

“Way to be fucking loud, kid.” Levi winced. He could understand Eren’s state of mind, but that was not a reason to just start yelling in the middle of a café. Or fall off his chair for that matter.

“Ah, sorry sir. I was just really surprised” Eren trailed off, not knowing what to say next. He had imagined this exact situation countless times and played out the imaginary conversations over and over again, but when it came to the actual thing, he was lost for words. He also had not envisioned falling off the chair. Needless to say, this entire situation was not as he expected at all.

 What was he supposed to do now? To say that butterflies were dancing in his stomach would be a huge understatement, it was more like a hurricane over which nervousness and excitement fought for control over.

“No need for the formalities anymore, Jaeger. It’s not like we’re still enlisted.” Levi had his pokerface on as usual, but behind that devil-may-care face, emotions were warring on. Happiness, nervousness, regrets, excitement and god knows what. He had long since given up on finding Eren again and by some stroke of luck here he was.

It was safe to say that while the both of them had wanted so much to meet each other again, neither truly believed that they would meet one another again. After all, whet were the odds. So when the time came, here they were with absolutely no idea what to do, what ought to happen next. It didn’t help that they didn’t exactly have a conventional romance in the past, with all the shit that was happening.

* * *

 

Hanji didn’t know whether to scream or storm in there and punch the both of them. The fates, or rather Hanji, had engineered it so that they would meet each other and the two of them decide to react by staring at each other like idiots.

“Come on Hanji, lets leave them be. Knowing the two of them, it’ll work out in the end.” Erwin cued Hanji as he started walking away from the café.

“Urghhh”

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is so cliched. I'm sorry.


End file.
